James Merritt - Under the Influence
There is a catchphrase, and it's the best phrase of our generation. It's used millions of times every day. It generates almost 1.5 billion hits on Google. It's completely changed the game in the way that we market products, the way we talk to each other, the way we share our various life experiences. It is perhaps the greatest single influence right now shaping the way we talk about everything from current events to cooking a turkey. And the phrase that I'm talking about, if I just give you just a couple of words, you'll know the phrase: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok. Those two words are social media. That word, that phrase was first used in 1994.
The URL socialmedia.com was first used in 1999. Almost 30 years ago, it was just a term. Nobody knew what it was. Today, it is a phenomenon. Because according to the most recent statistics, the number of people that use global social media, the number of people that are connected to use our own social media today: 4.89 billion people interact with social media. Two years from now, six billion people will build their world around social media. But you think that's a big thing. Let me tell you what I found out. It's a bigger thing. It's not social media that's a big thing. It's being an influencer on social media. Are you talking about making bank? You talk about rolling in the money. You become an influencer on social media. You can become a millionaire overnight. I'm not making this up.
Now, if you don't know what I mean, an influencer on social media is a person, He's built a reputation because of his knowledge or expertise, and then they go out, and they do it in different ways: It's blogging, YouTubing, podcasting, social posting. But you can generate, I mean, literally, almost overnight, millions of people. And then what you do is you begin to market products and brands through your social media outlet. And you get paid for it. People buy those products. You can become a millionaire. And the reason why people will buy what you want them to buy and get what you want them to get is because somehow you have convinced them, because of your celebrity, because of your authority, because of your knowledge, because of your relationship, because you've got a charismatic personality, that you actually know what you're talking about.
Now, buy, and they'll make you so rich. So suffice to say, if you've been Rip Van Winkle, we're living in a world, you better wake up. We're living in a world that is under the influence of social media like nothing I've ever seen in my life. But I'm a learner, and I'm always looking, how can we leverage that for the gospel? How can we leverage that for the kingdom? How can we turn what maybe the devil would want to use for evil and use it so that God can use it for good? And when I thought about it, really, it goes right to the heart of something Jesus said in the greatest sermon ever preached, the Sermon on the Mount.
If you're a guest of ours today, we're working our way through the Sermon on the Mount. We're calling this series "Get Used to Different," because as you're going to see increasingly more and more and more, Jesus said, hey, if you want to follow me, you're gonna be different. Very different, radically different, unbelievably different. And you better get used to different. And in Matthew chapter five, Jesus says something to his disciples then, and he says it now about what he wants us to be and what he wants us to do to change this world in order to fulfill our purpose and in order to glorify God. So, I'm gonna tell you in one word why you're here. I'm gonna tell you in one word why you're still here. One word. I've used it several times. That word is influence.
That's why you're here. God put us here to be influencers and to be his tools to bring the world under the influence of the gospel. And by the way, when you become an influencer the way God wants you to do, the way God wants you to be, you're just doing what Jesus did. Because I don't think anybody would argue he is still, to this day, the most influential person who has ever set foot on this earth. I mean, think about it. Historians say that perhaps the three greatest philosophical thinkers in the Western world were Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Socrates taught for 40 years, Plato taught for 50 years, and Aristotle taught for 40 years.
So put all those three guys together. They taught for 130 years. Jesus taught for three. And yet, who would argue that to this day, he's given more influence and exerted more influence in three years than they did in 130? And I'll tell you, the more I think about it, the more I think about Jesus, the more I know about Jesus, the more I learn about Jesus, it boggles my mind. He never painted a picture, but he is the subject of the finest paintings of the finest artists in history. He didn't write any poetry or books. But some of the greatest poets and authors in history have written about him. He composed no music, never wrote one note. And yet, from Beethoven to Bach, some of the greatest symphonies and musical works were written about him. And just as Jesus used his influence to accomplish the greatest work in history, he wants us to be involved in that same work.
So now we're gonna get to the crux of what I want to say to you today. The bad news is Jesus is no longer here physically. The good news is he is here in us spiritually. Don't give me a blank look. That ought to fire you up. He's not here physically, but he's in us spiritually. And he's doing something that, if I were Jesus, I would have never have done. There is not an advisor. There is not a counselor in the world that would have advised Jesus to do what he's done with us. Because if I'd been Jesus and I was thinking, okay, how can I reach this world? How can I bring this world under my influence? I wouldn't do it this way, but he did. So what's he doing? He's depending on us to use our influence to bring the world under his influence.
You say, "You mean me"? You. "Me"? You. He's depending on you and depending on me to use our influence to bring people under his influence. Now you say, well, how's he gonna do that? I'll tell you in two words. You ready? Salt and light. That's how Jesus is gonna do it. Salt and light. In Matthew chapter 5, verse 13, Jesus tells every one of us who are followers of his, we are two things. Now listen to what Jesus said. Not what I'm saying, it's what he's saying. "You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world".
Now I want you to listen carefully. He wasn't talking to seminary professors. He wasn't talking to ordained pastors. He wasn't talking to full-time evangelists. When Jesus spoke these words, he wasn't in Athens speaking to brilliant philosophers. He wasn't in Rome talking to politicians. He was out in the country. I've been there 25, 27, 28 times. I've seen where he spoke these words. On a hillside overseeing the Sea of Galilee. And who is he talking to? Farmers, fishermen, law enforcement. People who couldn't even sign their name. Minimum wage workers. And I guarantee you, had you been in that crowd that day, they would have all been jerking their head going. He's talking to me? Me? He's telling me? I'm a nobody. I don't know anybody.
And he's saying, you're the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world. And you're going to see why Jesus used these metaphors. If you're taking notes from page 22 of your booklet, just turn to your little booklet, turn to page 22. And I want to just share with you why we're going to see Jesus use these metaphors. Because if you think about it, it makes sense. Go home today and Google the front page of a newspaper, or go to your favorite news site, or just turn on your TV. Let me tell you what you're going to see. You're going to see two things. You're gonna see a world that is decaying before our very eyes, and a world that's living in darkness.
And Jesus comes along and says, I got the remedy. I've got the solution. I'll tell you, just about the time I think, we just can't go any lower, we get lower. It's about the time I think it just can't get any darker. It gets darker. And Jesus says, hey, I've got the solution. Salt stops the decay. Light penetrates the darkness. Salt stops the decay. Light penetrates the darkness. So, I'm gonna give you my sermon in a sentence. Now, before I do, that doesn't mean you can check out. Doesn't mean you can go to sleep. Doesn't mean you can check your iPhone for anything. Okay, I'm not done. I came to preach. You came to listen. Don't stop until I do.
But here's my sermon in a sentence. Jesus makes us different so we can make a difference. Jesus makes us different so we can make a difference. Jesus did not save you just so you'd go to heaven. Jesus did not save you just so you'd be forgiven. Jesus did not save you just so you'd have eternal life. Jesus didn't just save you so you could be a part of his family. Jesus makes us different so we can make a difference. And I'm gonna tell you two simple things Jesus said on how every one of us can do that. It's real simple, very simple message. Number one, Jesus said, share the salt, share the salt. He begins by saying, "You are the salt of the earth".
Now, if you'd been back in that day, you'd have said to yourself, I know why Jesus said that, I get it, I understand. Because back in that day, salt, you may as well be talking about gold or silver or diamonds or money because very few commodities were more valuable in that day than salt. You see, salt is a preservative. Today, we don't need a lot of salt for our food. We don't have to preserve it. We've got refrigerators. They didn't have refrigerators. We've got freezers. They didn't have freezers. We've got ice. They didn't have ice. So, the only thing they had to preserve food was salt. In fact... Salt was so valuable. I bet you didn't know this salt was so valuable. It was often used for money. You could actually trade for gold ounce for ounce, ounce of salt ounce of gold.
As a matter of fact, soldiers back in that day were paid in salt. By the way, you don't realize it. So are you. So what do you mean? If you get a paycheck, next time you get a paycheck, remember this the word salary comes from the Latin word Solarium which comes from the root word Sal or salt. We have an old saying, you'll tell you, this will age you. If you've heard this before, you're an older person. You ever heard somebody say, oh, he's not worth his salt? Why do you say that? Where do we get that? We get that from Bible days, because that's the way people were paid. That's the way that people live. One of the major industries of Galilee, as you know, was fishing. So you'd go out and you'd catch a boat full of fish. But maybe you couldn't take it to the market for two days because you had to do more fishing. Maybe the weather was good and you had to get the hay in while the sun's shining.
So, what would you do with all that fish? You couldn't refrigerate it, couldn't freeze it. There's no way you'd preserve it. You had to put salt on it because it's a preservative. It is a preventative. That's exactly what salt does. So Jesus says, if you will come and follow me. If you'll get under my influence, here's what I'm going to do for you. Here's what happened to you when you gave your life to Jesus. It happened to me when I got saved as a nine-year-old boy and I didn't even know it. The moment you give your life to Jesus, here's what he does. He turns you into salt. You didn't know it, didn't realize it, but he said, you are the salt.
Now, I'm working on this message, and I have to tell you, just so interesting, I thought, I don't know why this thought came to me. If somebody would have come up to you and say, what does salt taste like? You've thought about what you tell them. It's salty. Well, then if they said, well, why is it salty? Because it tastes like salt. I mean, there's really not a lot of words to describe how salt tastes. I'll tell you what you know, though. You can go to a restaurant, we've all had this experience. You can go to certain restaurants and you take the first bite, you know, man, they've salted this food. And you also know it because if you go to a restaurant and you eat very salty food, you know what happens the next morning, right? You're all swollen up, your hands are swollen, your feet are swollen, because that salt has gotten into your body.
Well, you say, why do they salt their food so much? They know what they're doing. You know why they put so much salt in their food? Makes you thirsty. So what do you do? You drink more. I mean, salt's a racket. I'll just tell you that right now. They know what they're doing. But I want you to think about it. Let me just tell you. You may be saying, well, how can I be the salt of the earth? Let me just give you two or three ways. For example, let's take your words. Just take your words. When you speak words of kindness and encouragement and grace and blessing, and especially when you turn your words into the gospel, you make people maybe thirsty for what you have.
Think about your work. When you do all that you can in your company, your business, the marketplace, to say, hey, you want to know what a follower of Jesus looks like? You know what a follower of Jesus talks like? You want to know how a follower of Jesus acts? This is the way it happens. You're being salt. Think about your witness. When you share the love of Jesus, when you share the gospel, when you stand for truth, when you speak up for what is right, when you speak against what's wrong, you're being salt. You're seasoning the culture by showing, this is what it's like to think like Jesus, because don't you listen to something he said. This is so important. We miss it. Jesus said, you are the salt of the... say it loud... earth.
Okay, what's the point? Buckle up. He didn't say you're the salt of the church. He said, you are the salt of the earth. So you understand what he's saying? So, let me just make it plain. The purpose of salt is to get out of the salt shaker, and into the food. You can take the best salt in the world, the best salt ever been made. You can put it one inch away from your food, but if you don't put it on the food, it is useless. And here's my point. God did not call us to be the salt of the earth in here. We've got to be the salt of the earth out there.
So, I want you to think in a minute. Let's use our Disney imagination just for a moment. I want you to imagine you're not sitting in a room with four walls. I want you to imagine you're sitting, listen now, visualize this, you're sitting in a salt shaker, because that's what you are. We are salt in a salt shaker. So when we walk out of here in just a few minutes, what I'm saying to you is we ought to be poured out of here into our schools, our neighborhoods, our offices, our businesses, our athletic teams. We ought to let people taste the difference, see the difference that Jesus makes in our life. We are gonna leave here in just a few minutes. We're going to say three words. You are sent. Sent as what? Salt. We're sending you out as salt. We're taking the salt shaker. We're sitting in right now, and we want to pour it out everywhere we can.
The problem is this. The salt is staying in the shaker. That's the problem. I love this story. You'll love this story. you're gonna love this story. There was a lady that walked into this little mom and pop grocery store, kind of like a Dollar General store, just a little pop mom and pop grocery store. She said, do you sell salt? And the owner looked at her and he said, do we sell salt? He said, let me show you something. So he took this lady over to an entire wall of shelves, and it was stocked with nothing but salt. I mean, every kind of salt you wanted, Morton salt, Ida salt, kosher salt, sea salt, rock salt, garlic salt, seasoning salt, Epsom salt. I mean, there was every kind of salt you could imagine.
And this lady was looking at that, she's going, this is unbelievable. He said, oh, you see that? Yeah, she said. Well, he led her to a back room. It was filled with shelves and bins and cartons and barrels and boxes full of salt. And the lady said, I can't get over this. I've never seen anything like it. He said, you haven't seen anything yet. He has taken us down some steps into a huge basement, five times as large as the previous room. She couldn't believe it. It was filled wall to wall, floor to ceiling, with every imaginable form, every size, every shape of salt that you could imagine. The lady looked at him and she said, good gosh, you really do sell salt. With a sad look on his face, he said, well, actually, we don't hardly sell any salt. And she said, what? He said, yeah, that's the problem. We don't hardly sell any salt. But that salt salesman comes by every week. Boy, that man can sell salt.
Now, salt that stays on the shelf is useless. Salt that sits in that chair you're sitting in right now and stays there till you come back next week is useless. It's worthless. Doesn't do anybody any good. We've got to get out of our churches, out of our houses, out of our holy huddles, and we begin to need to show what a godly life filled with Jesus looks like to our next-door neighbors, to the people that work under us, the people that work above us, the people that work with us, to our classmates, our teammates, our relatives, and our friends. Because I'm telling you something. We somehow have been lulled into believing the greatest problem of the church is out there.
No, it's not. The greatest problem of the church is in here. Because let me tell you what we've become. And I'm talking about our church. And I love you, but I'm just telling the truth. You know what we've become in our church? We have become one gigantic salt shaker full of salt that never gets out there. You walk in here on Sunday, and I'm glad you come. And you hear the word of God, and I'm glad you're here. And you come out, and you're very kind, and I'm glad you are. But nothing changes. Nothing. You keep your salt in the salt shaker. Nobody would never know by the way you live, the way you, oh, they know you're a good person. They know you go to church, but the real salt does not get out there. It just doesn't happen.
And we come here on Sunday, and you know what really is kind of frustrating? We come here on Sunday, and I'm salting people that don't need to be salted. You understand if you're a follower of Jesus, you don't need to be salted. You are the salt. They are the ones that need to be salted. It's your neighbor that needs to be salted. It's the empty chairs that need to be salted. But we keep the salt in the shaker. People say, well, I believe in the separation of church and state. So do I. But I do not believe in the separation of church and culture. I do not believe in the separation of God and government.
There was a great British preacher named James Stewart. He died about 75 years ago. He said something long ago that's so true today. And I want you to hear what he said. Listen carefully. He said, "The greatest threat to Christianity is not atheism, materialism, not humanism. The greatest threat to Christianity is Christians trying to sneak into heaven incognito without ever sharing their faith, without ever living out the Christian life, without ever becoming involved in the most significant work for God, God is doing on planet Earth". He's right. So Jesus then goes on to give us this warning. Watch this. He says, "But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot".
And I'm gonna be honest, that's one of those verses I used to read as a kid. I go, what does that mean? What does that all mean? What is he talking about? Well, again, if you lived back then, you'd have known exactly what he was talking about. Because just a few miles south of where he was was this sea called the Dead Sea. There's a great concentration of salt there. Once the water flows into the Dead Sea, there's no place for it to go. And the sun begins to evaporate the water and it leaves behind this chunky white powder. And it's made up of salt and minerals.
Now here's the good news. The good news is there's enough salt in there to preserve the meat. The bad news is there's enough minerals in there to dilute the salt. And it becomes basically tasteless and bitter, and you can't even put it on food. So you know what they would do with that salt in the Dead Sea? They had dirty, dusty roads, so they would put salt on the roads to keep the dust down. So all people did was just walk over the salt. And that's what the church has become. We let the world walk all over us. We let the world push its agenda on us. We let the world tell us what's politically correct. We let the world tell us to go along and get along.
And what happens is the salt, he says, has lost its saltiness. Because you see, when we talk like everybody else talks, and we live like everybody else lives, and we walk like everybody else walks, and we act like everybody else acts, and we think like everybody else acts and thinks, we lose our saltiness. Because unfortunately, the average church and the average Christian is more interested in conforming to the culture than transforming the culture. So we go along to get along. And Jesus said, listen, if we're going to influence this world, we've got to share the salt. We've got to get our Christianity out of this salt shaker on Sunday morning into the streets on Monday morning. We've got to get it out of the church, put it on Main Street, downtown, in our schools, in our universities, in the neighborhood, in our community every day of the week.
Jesus said, first thing you got to do to make a difference, share the salt. And then here's the second thing he said. You figure it out, right? Shine the light. That's it. That's what God tells us to do. That's what you're to do when you walk out of this room this morning. That's what you're to do, listen, be in your neighborhood right now. You're to share the salt. You're to shine the light. Now, as if being called salt was not surprising enough, Jesus then says this. He says, "You are the light of the world". Now, why does Jesus call us light? You know what the purpose of light is, right? The purpose of light is to do one thing. It gets rid of darkness.
So let me just give you a newsflash in case you haven't realized it. We are living in a dark world. And it is getting darker every single day. I mean, let me just kind of just start listing. Terrorism, racial unrest, economic uncertainty, sexual immorality, family disintegration, wars and rumors of war, nuclear proliferation. I mean, I don't need to keep going. And here's what I want you to understand. There's only one light that can penetrate that darkness. There's only one light. That is the light of the gospel of Jesus and the light of Jesus of the gospel. You see, Jesus said something earlier. This is to encourage you. You remember what Jesus said earlier before he said this? He said this, I am the light of the world.
Now, let me just stop. Wait a minute. Time out. Got a question. Jesus, you said you're the light of the world. And then you said, we're the light of the world. Which is it? Are you the light of the world? Or are we the light of the world? And Jesus would smile and say, yes, yes. Oh, I am the light of the world. When you gave your life to me, I came to live in you. And your job is to just let my light shine through you. That's your job. You got the light. You just let it shine through you. Because let me tell you something. There is no zero, nada, zip. There is no hope for this dark world that we live in. There's none unless through Jesus, we become the light of the world. And Jesus knew what he was doing when he compared us to light because you may not understand how important light is to life.
Without light, I don't mean man-made light. I mean, you go out there, if there was no light outside of man-made lights, this world would die. We wouldn't exist. We could not live. You say, why? Because without light, plants require light to live and to grow. Animals require plants to eat and to live. We depend on plant and animals for food. So we all depend on light. What Jesus was saying was, just as this world needs light to live physically, this world needs the light of God's Son to live spiritually. So we need to shine our light. But then Jesus goes further. He says, it's not just important for you to understand that you ought to shine your light. Jesus said, hey. I want you to ask yourself this question. How far can you shine your light? Because Jesus goes on to say this. "You're the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden".
Now, why did he say that? Well, the Greek word for the word built is very interesting. It's not the word that's used to build a house. or to build a city, or to build any kind of thing that you build with your hands. The word there for built literally means to be placed or to be planted. In other words, what Jesus was saying was this. You need to wake up and smell the coffee. It is not a coincidence that you live in the neighborhood you live in. It's not a coincidence that you work in the office that you work in. It is not a coincidence that you do for a living what you do for a living. It's not a coincidence that you were born into a certain family. It's not even a coincidence that you were born at this day and in this time and in this hour. It's not a coincidence you go to school where you go to school. It's not a coincidence you've got the friends that you have.
Jesus says you've been planted there. You have been placed there, and you've been put there to be light in that darkness. So he goes on to say this, "Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house". A lamp needs to be held and held high. I know, listen, I want to stop. I want to be sympathetic. I know there are a lot of you listening to me right now, and you get to do, not have to, because I wish I could. You get to do something I don't get to do. You may think you have to do it. If you think a minute, you don't get to. You have to. You get to. You go to work every day in a dark place. I don't. I work here. You're going to work every day with a lot of unbelievers. I don't. I work with believers.
So I know what some of you are thinking right now. I know. And I would probably say the same thing. You know, you're probably sitting there thinking, you don't know what you're asking of me. You don't know where I work. You don't know my boss. You don't know my supervisor. You don't know my company policies. You don't know my boundaries. You don't know my lines. No, I don't. But I would like to ask you two questions. Number one, where does light shine the best and the brightest? Answer, in the darkest places. One other question. Who needs the light the most? Answer, the people in deepest darkness.
Now, I want you to understand what I'm not asking of you, okay? I'm not asking you to shine your light in somebody's face all the time. Do not go into your supervisor's office tomorrow and say, turn or burn. Don't do that. I am not asking you to be overbearing or pushy, or obnoxious. All Jesus is asking, and all I'm asking, and all I'm trying to get you to do is let God use you to take every advantage he'll give you and every door he'll open to you to let people know that the light of the world lives in you and to let that light shine. So, here's what I mean. Be the best employee you can be. Keep a Bible on your desk. Let people know that you're praying for them. Be kind to people, even who are rude to you.
And by the way, be encouraged. Listen to me carefully. Listen to me. I want some of us today to buck up here. Darkness never intimidates light. Light intimidates darkness. It is time for us, as a church, to quit letting the outside world intimidate us. I don't give a flying rip what Wall Street, Washington, or Hollywood says. I couldn't care less. It doesn't matter. And I'm not gonna let them intimidate me. Because greater is he who is in me than he who lives in the world. Light is not afraid of darkness. Darkness is afraid of light. And the darker your surroundings are, the brighter your light should shine. So we've got lighting in our houses.
You know why we've got lighting in our houses? Because we don't want to sit in the dark or stay in the dark all day. And in the same way, when you go into that dark neighborhood or that dark office, or that dark school room, God didn't put you there just so you'd sit down and sit in the dark with everybody else. God puts you there to shine his light and get rid of the darkness. So let me just take a lot of prayer. Some of you say, by the way, let me just stop and say this. Gosh, I got so much to say. I feel like a mosquito in a nudist camp. I don't even know where to start. I'm not trying to put you on a guilt trip. I don't do that. Guilt trips don't work. They don't work. Some of you right now, boy, I feel so guilty. Man, I know I need to be a witness. I know I need to do this. That will last about until you get to your car, and it'll be done. I'm not here to put you on a guilt trip. I'm here to put you on a God trip.
So here's what Jesus said. Listen carefully. I want to take all the pressure off of you. Listen to how Jesus concludes. He knew what he was. Jesus was the master psychologist. Look how he concludes. He said, "In the same way, let your light shine before others". Now watch this, "That they may see your good deeds". And here's the key, "Glorify your Father in heaven". All right, next day, listen, everybody, draw up close. Listen, your job, and I'm not asking you to do this, your job is not to walk out that door and try to show other people what a good person you are. Your job is to go out that door and show what a great God you know. That's your job. No pressure on you. There's no pressure on you. And all you're doing when you shine your light is you're using your words to glorify God, which is why we've all been put here.
Because remember one more time who Jesus was talking to. Who's he talking to? Just folk like you and me, ordinary folk. You don't have to be educated, slick, quick on your feet, trained, or be what we call in the full-time ministry to be the light of the world. Because here's the thing. Here's the thing. God's plan is to take ordinary people. I want to have you raise your hand with me. I'm just an ordinary guy. I have many of you who say that's me. You better raise your hand. I'm coming to get you. We're all just ordinary people. That's why I told a guy yesterday, the day before yesterday, I was talking about, I can't stand celebrity preachers. I'm not a celebrity. I'm just like you. I'm just like you. We're all just, listen, compared to Jesus, we're all a bunch of nobodies. We're all ordinary. I'm just an ordinary guy. I shop at Walmart. I'm a guy just like you. You guys are just like me. My wife, she's just an ordinary person.
Ladies, you're just like her. But God's plan is to take ordinary people and send them to other ordinary people to share an extraordinary message of light and make an extraordinary difference in their life. And you want to hear something that's so amazing? I'm gonna be honest. I wouldn't have done it this way. I'm telling you, I wouldn't have done it. If I'd been Jesus, I would have done it. Jesus says, if you had said to Jesus just before he left this earth, all right, Lord, what's the marketing plan? How are you gonna do this? How are you gonna bring the world under your influence? He would have said, here's how I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna do it through you. What? Yeah, I'm gonna do it through you.
How are you going to do it through me? I'm gonna make you salt. I'm gonna make you light in your family, your neighborhood, your workplace, and in your school. And then you say to Jesus, excuse me, what's plan B? There ain't no plan B. You're hag, you're it. Hag, you're it. I'm depending on you to be the salt of the earth. I'm depending on you to be the light of the world. Because I want to tell you something, ladies and gentlemen, this world doesn't need any more YouTube stars, or social media influencers or Hollywood celebrities. The most powerful, practical, promising influence in the world will not be found in Wall Street. It won't be found in Wall Street bankers. Hollywood celebrities are Washington politicians.
Let me tell you something. We have a congressman, Rich McCormick, one of the best, he's the best in the business. He's in my home group. He comes to our church. Awesome guy. We came out there, we were talking just a minute ago. Let me just tell you something. Let me wake you up. If you think, if we just elect, this guy to be the president, we're gonna solve our problems, you don't get it. If you think, man, if we could just get this party to take over both houses, we could solve our problem, you don't get it. The best politician, the best president, the best senator, the best congressman without Jesus has nothing to say to this world that's decaying and in darkness. We just need ordinary, run-of-the-mill people that love Jesus to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world.
There are plenty of churches out there that don't care whether you're salt or light or not. We're not one of them. There's a lot of pastors out there. They don't care whether you ever tell people about Jesus or not. I'm not one of them. Because the Jesus that I know and the Jesus that I love and the Jesus I worship, and the Jesus I preach is worth knowing. And he's worth sharing. And he's worth telling people about. I've got, listen, I could write down 10 more names, and I probably will. I could show you my prayer list. I'm not making this up. I can do it. I'm not asking you to do something I'm not doing. So you take this one that says, who's your one? Take it with you. Your job in the next 12 months, Lord, help me to reach that man, that family, that couple, whoever it may be. I want to see them saved, baptized, and become a member of our church. Let's take that. I'm gonna leave you with a story, and we're done. Years ago, I read a story.
Now, this is an old story. You're going to be able to tell it by the money amount. But there was a man that built this big business. And Wayne, he had three sons. And he wanted to give that business to one of his three sons, but he wasn't sure which one could really handle the business. So he gave each one of his sons a dollar bill, and he got them in this big room. It was kind of their company corporate meeting room. And he said, go out, here's what I want you to do. He said, here's a dollar for each of you. I want you to go buy something that will fill up this room. And the one who takes up the most space will get the company.
Well, they all three came back. The first boy came back with two bales of hay. His dad said, what's that for? He said, that I bought them for 50 cents a piece. And he unwrapped the hay, and he spread the hay all over the room. So he looked at the second son. He said, okay, son, what about you? He said, well, dad, I bought two feathered pillows. And he cut them open and just let the feathers fill the air. And the father was pleased, but he thought, surely there's more than this. So he turned to the third son. He said, what did you do with your dollar? Because he noticed the son didn't have anything in his hands at all. He said, well, Dad, I gave 50 cents to an orphanage. I gave 20 cents to a church. I gave 20 cents to a soup kitchen, a care point. He said, well, it's only 80 cents. He said, yes, sir. 90 cents. He said, yeah, I spent the last dime on two items.
And he reached into his pocket. And he took out a little matchbook and a candle. He lit the candle and walked over to the wall, and turned off the lights. And the light of that candle filled that room from corner to corner. And the dad said, you're the one that's going to run this company. So you're gonna walk out of here in a minute. Back to your home. back to your neighborhood. You're gonna get up in the morning and go back to work and go back to your job, or go back to doing whatever you do. I just have one question. What are you gonna fill your world up with? Jesus said, I'll tell you what I want you to fill it up with, salt and light. You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world.
Now as I close this, some of you can't do that. You can't even do what I'm asking you to do. You know why you can't share the salt? You don't have any. You know why you can't share the light? You don't have a light. You're in darkness, just like the world is, because you can't be salt and you can't be light till you know the Jesus that is both. I just want to say to you today, if you would say today, I get it now. I know the purpose of my life. I know why I'm here, to be salt and light. But I can't give the salt away. I can't shine the light until I become that myself. How do I do that? By simply telling:
Jesus, I'm a sinner. I need a Savior. I need to be saved. I need to become salt. I need your light. So today, Lord Jesus, I mean, you could be saying this right now while I'm saying it to you. Today, Lord Jesus, come into my heart. Be my Lord. Be my Savior. I want to walk out of here full of salt. I want to walk out of here full of light. I know now why you lead me here. I know why I'm here right now. I'm here for two reasons, to share the salt and shine the light. Give me the strength and power to live for you for the rest of my life. I repent of my sin. I turn away from my sin. And I ask you to save me today.